From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Lack of basic amenities in Railway stations as well as inside trains for physically-challenged persons gave a torrid time to a group of talented differently able artistes from the city while they were travelling to and fro between Guwahati and New Delhi last week, for participating in ‘Jashne Bachpan’ at the invitation of National School of Drama.
The group of 15 physically-challenged youngsters were students of a special school run by a city-based NGO, Sishu Sarothi.
Executive Director of the institution, Arman Ali, while giving a detail report about the harrowing experience of the special youngsters, inside the train and outside the station, said that, because of the lack of basic facilities to make the access for physically-challenged people smooth and easy, it is necessary to move to the Gauhati High Court to intervene in the matter.
So that such public places/facilities and institutions in Guwahati are made disabled people friendly.
In fact, Sishu Sarothi management has decided to move Gauhati High Court to seeking the court’s intervention to make not only Guwahati Railway Station, but the entire public facilities and commercial places in Guwahati disabled-friendly.
Arman Ali, also said, because of lack of minimum basic facilities like a ramp, the disabled youngsters had to be carried through the cargo offload route to platform to catch their train in Guwahati railway station.
Similar, hardship awaited them in New Delhi railway station too.
Moreover, the woes of these youngsters were compounded inside the train due to lack of amenities for the physically-challenged on board. They travelled from Guwahati on November 17 last.
Ali claimed that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in the year 2010 had assured Sishu Sarothi to create disabled-friendly amenities in Guwahati Railway Station.
“Such a situation is in sharp violation of Persons with Disabilities Act, 1935 which stipulates that there should be a non-discrimination atmosphere at public places,” Ali said.